BEIRUT: An offensive by US-backed forces against Daesh’s last redoubt in eastern Syria killed 35 militants on Saturday, a Britain-based war monitor said.
Twenty-eight Daesh members were killed in air strikes by the US-led coalition around the town of Hajjin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Another seven militants were killed in ground fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who launched a coalition-backed offensive against the Daesh-held pocket in the Euphrates Valley last month.
Fighting has killed 414 militants and 227 SDF fighters in total since the assault began on September 10, the Observatory said.
Coalition air strikes on Daesh targets in another part of the pocket on Thursday and Friday killed at least 41 civilians, 10 of them children, the monitor said.
Daesh overran large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” across the land it controlled.
But the militant group has since lost most of its territory to various offensives in both countries.
In Syria, its presence has been reduced to parts of the vast Badia desert and the Hajjin pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border.
Syria’s war has killed more than 360,000 people since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
US-backed Syria offensive kills 35 Daesh fighters
US-backed Syria offensive kills 35 Daesh fighters
50,000 perform Ramadan Taraweeh prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque
- Worshippers gather amid heightened tensions in occupied West Bank
- Hundreds of Jerusalemites ordered not to enter mosque during holy month
LONDON: About 50,000 Palestinian worshippers performed the Isha and Ramadan Taraweeh prayers on Sunday evening at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the walled city of occupied East Jerusalem.
The crowds gathered despite Israeli military checkpoints and strict identity checks at the mosque’s gates, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
Palestinians are observing the Muslim holy month, which began on Wednesday, amid heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank, including attacks by settlers and raids and arrests by the Israeli army.
More than 300 Jerusalemites recently received Israeli orders prohibiting their entry to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan, the Wafa news agency reported.
Israeli forces have increased their military presence in Jerusalem and restricted access to the mosque for children under 12, men over 55 and women over 50.
Since Wednesday, thousands of Palestinians have lined up to pass through military checkpoints, including at Qalandiya and Bethlehem, in the hope of attending prayers at Al-Aqsa.
